Newb Member, Used Prius, TSB Question

Just signed on yesterday after browsing this site for a couple of weeks and using some of the information to pull the trigger on our first Prius. It's a 2010, higher miles but one owner, purchased from a dealership.

I had glanced at some of the information about the rough idling-engine knock-rattle at startup, and sure enough, the day after we drove it home, we experienced that early in the day. And again this morning, three days later. Both times under cooler conditions. Based on what I have read in other threads, there's no doubt in my mind that it is the same thing I have read about. Now I've researched further and see that there was a Toyota Service Bulletin (TSB) for this issue (TS-B-0010-12). Most of you likely know, but a TSB is NOT a recall. The thing is, this covered the issue (replacement of intake manifold) for affected vehicles out to 60K. I'm well beyond that, and if the original owners had this problem and had it addressed, there is no way I can find out (or is there?)

To the general question, has anyone happened into a TSB-fixable situation on a used Prius and THEN got any help from Toyota if the issue was discovered outside of the coverage period? I'm guessing that the best I can hope for is some cost-sharing, but I do't want to go to battle without knowing some sense of the probable outcomes.

Thanks for any input.

 

I have a 90 day/3000 mile limited warranty - for the drive train. I'm not sure an issue with the intake manifold will fall into that category. To date I have not made an inquiry (just bought the car four days ago), which is why I thought I would jump in here first to see what other people have run into. I certainly intend to follow up at the dealership and to go as far up the chain of command as necessary but I hope to be armed with some sense of what I can expect.

 

Thanks, SFO and Prodigyplace. That will help hugely. According to the CarFax, the car was bought at and serviced exclusively at the dealership where I purchased it.

 

Jackpot. In February the former owner came in with a complaint of "Rattling noise periodically. Got notification from Toyota that there is a report for rough idling. Please check and advise. Replaced the EGR and tube gasket as per TSB-0027-16. Test drove to verify repair. Warranty Repair."

This references a different TSB, but it gets my foot in the door for sure. Thanks again for the link.

 

Here's a quick update. The Toyota dealership kept our Prius for a couple of mornings to see if they could trigger the same knocking as I had. No luck. However, they passed on a lot of information - including documentation from Toyota that extends warranty coverage for this issue to 10 years from first date of ownership or 150K, whichever comes first, and I was asked to monitor my own usage and let them know what happens. They said that it is possible that the car might eventually throw an error code.
Unbelievably, when I started the car with the service manager walking away yesterday, the knocking started as I pulled away and the ICE cut in. It just lasted for a couple of seconds, but the service manager heard it and asked me to back it up so we could talk further. I verified that this was a shorter duration of the same knocking we had earlier heard, and he agreed that it did sound like the condition (EGR valve issue) covered under the warranty extension.
Even more unbelievably, less than five miles from the dealership, I noticed that the CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAD ILLUMINATED. Bear in mind that it could have come on when it rattled at the dealership and I could have missed it since the light is on the far right side of the display. My wife had already dropped me off and left me so I had no choice but to pull over and leave a message with the service manager and then continue home.
So it'll go back tomorrow and the dealership will have an error code to work from as well as the first-hand observation by the service manager. I'm very optimistic that this will be resolved and I already have assurance the cost will be borne by Toyota. After what I have picked up on this website in the brief exploration I've done, I feel really lucky and I appreciate that this source is here.

 

This is interesting! Just to be sure I understand, when you say "the engine" you are referring to the internal combustion engine, correct? What you are describing is more or less what happened two days ago when I went back to the dealership to pick up the car. I started it as I was wrapping up a conversation with the service manaager (SM) and he started to walk away as I started to pull forward - THAT'S when ICE kicked in and I got the knocking that lasted two or so seconds and which was audible to the SM.
I really appreciate this and will try it out. I'd already come to the conclusion that I'm not going to do anything that Toyota isn't going to pay for, unless it's compromising the life of the car, and the concensus here (and from the dealership) is that it's not hurting anything.

 

The dealership downloaded the code today and it pointed to the intake manifold, which will be replaced. I know there was a TSB out there for this back in maybe 2012? but it has since been declared obsolete, so this is falling under the 90 day/1000 mile limited dealership warranty. The parts are on order and none of this will cost me anything. If we had to have a problem early in our Prius ownership career, I don't think I could have drawn up a better outcome. FYI, the dealership is Heartland Toyota, in Bremerton, WA, which is part of the West Hills group of dealerships. My salesman was with one of the sister dealerships (Ford/Mazda), but the Toyota dealership was where the car was originally purchased, serviced, and then traded in.
I'm looking forward to getting this Prius back and learning to do everything we can to keep it in good working order. Hell, there was no way they were going to take it back from me after the hours I spent detailing it back into nearly-mint condition!

 

I'm not certain where this fits in with the larger topic, but when I first brought my Prius back to the dealership maintenance department five days ago, with my copy of the prior owners' service record (with the TS-B driven EGR valve and pipe replacement at 132K), I was given a copy of a Warranty Enhancement Program-ZF3 document (no date). Included in the header is the line "Extension of Warranty Coverage for Sticking Exhaust Recirculation (EGR) Valve."
The Service Manager explained that affected Prius owners of record had in the recent past (not exactly sure when) received letters offering extension of the original warranty for the "cold start rough-idle" condition when verified by Diagnostic Trouble Code or DTC P0401 to March 31, 2017 with no mileage limitations, then transitioning to secondary coverage applicable for 10 years from the first date of service or 150K miles, whichever comes first.

Meanwhile, I should have my car back tomorrow, but I was told yesterday that when my DTC was downloaded, it was not P0401. I don't believe it was stated what my code was, but whatever it was resulted in the decision to replace the intake manifold at no charge to me. I did not ask whether Toyota was footing the bill or if this was driven by the dealership warranty because I was assured that this was being done to make things right and retain me as a customer. Needless to say, I'm immensely pleased at this outcome, and I will still have this secondary warranty coverage up to 150K if the EGR valve malfunctions and throws the P0401 code. Time will tell, but between what I've learned about how to properly start and warm up the Prius and the fact I'll have a new intake manifold and an EGR valve-pipe with less than 8K miles on it, I believe this should be a minimal problem.